Wholesome Books for the Whole Family
As we spend quality time with God, through prayer and reading Scripture, we take on a Christ-like fragrance. He should so permeate our lives that those who know us can’t remain indifferent. Some will be drawn to our faith and want to know more, others will be turned off.
Personally, I don’t like to think I’ll be offensive to anyone. Yet God says we must not remain neutral, trying to please everyone we meet. If we are pleasant to some, we will stink to others. There is no middle ground.
I realized I had been focused on my fear rather than my Father. I’d been leaning on my own strength instead of leaning on God’s strength and came up short.
Heaven’s greatest loss was our greatest gain. His death is our salvation. Through His sacrifice, we are cleansed from sin. What appeared to be the worst possible outcome, turned out to be the most powerful victory. Tears turned to joy; sorrow transformed into rejoicing. Not just a temporary, shallow kind of joy but one that is eternal and so deep-rooted that nothing and no one can take it away.
You and I have a similar problem; we don’t measure up to God’s standards. The Bible tells us God is a holy God and He cannot look upon our sin. Therein lays the rub. No human being, other than Jesus, is without sin. When we measure our sinful nature against God’s holiness we fall short. But the Gospel doesn’t leave us without hope. On the contrary, God gave His only beloved Son as a sin offering. He took our sin, our faults, our shame, upon Himself so we might be cleansed from all sin. When God looks at us, He sees us through the filter of the cross; no longer stained by sin, but white as snow.
God’s peace is not a temporary peace that needs replacing when it runs out, but a continual and indestructible outpouring of God’s bountiful gifts. His peace is bestowed in proportion to our needs. In turn, this peace circles back, influencing how we think and feel. It turns off the worrisome thoughts and channels them towards God’s faithfulness and love.
God excels in redeeming our losses. He takes what is broken and shapes it into a new life that is far beyond what we could ever think or imagine.
There is no greater witness than a soul who praises God through the pain.
While it is correct that our faith and God’s grace are enough for our salvation, that good enough faith is often a weak faith. When the storms of life blow and the waves threaten to submerge us, we need more than good enough faith—we need a strong, deep-rooted faith that will help us stand firm and endure the storm.
The God who created us also loves us. He longs, He yearns for us to come into His presence, to pull up a chair and chat awhile, to divulge what’s on our hearts and minds, to share our most intimate thoughts. He is our Abba, our heavenly Father, who says, “I’m never too busy, too preoccupied, too tired, to listen to you, my dear child. Come, let’s talk awhile.”
True contentment is the fruit of knowing (heart, mind, and soul) that God has a reason and a purpose for each phase of our lives. Each step forward is a step closer to our ultimate goal; eternity with Christ